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In this newsletter:
- Interactive town hall on antisemitism, bigotry and hatred.
- Legislative session 2023.
- Delivery of coil collected remembering Mr. Samuel Nelson.
- Nearly 200 pounds of trash removed!
- Tarpon Cove mangrove planting.
- Mayor Gregg K. Weiss in the news.
- Book drive for foster children.
- Make a pet lucky during March: fees are waived!
- We're sharing pictures of a few events Mayor Weiss attended. Let us know if you'd like him to visit a meeting or event in your neighborhood.
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Interactive town hall on antisemitism, bigotry and hatred | |
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Our March 2 town hall on antisemitism and bigotry at the South County Civic Center in Delray Beach was well attended. WPTV NewsChannel 5's Michael Williams moderated an interactive conversation between thoughtful panelists.
Thank you to all who made it a success!
Read the news coverage about the event in "Gregg in the News."
If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, or if you’d like to see it again you can watch it here:
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March 9 marked the start of Florida's legislative session. For that reason, Mayor Weiss and other county leaders traveled to Tallahassee to lobby the legislature on behalf of Palm Beach County.
Palm Beach County staff participated in over 40 meetings with key legislators to discuss top policy, appropriations and priorities going into the legislative session.
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Bridge replacement work: started Monday, March 13
6th Ave. South from S. Congress Ave. to Grove Street
(in the city of Lake Worth Beach) will close for six months
East and west bound traffic will be detoured via S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth Road (S.R. 802)/Lake Ave./Lucerne Ave. and S. Dixie Highway (U.S. 1).
Access to Interstate 95 north of 6th Ave. will be detoured via S. Congress Ave. and 10th Ave. North. Access to Interstate 95 south of 6th Ave. South will be detoured via S. Congress Ave. and Lantana Road.
The 6th Ave. South Interstate 95 ramps will remain open and traffic east of Interstate 95 will remain unaffected. Trucks are not to access and travel west of Interstate 95 unless making local deliveries.
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Delivery of soil collected remembering Mr. Samuel Nelson | |
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As part of an effort to establish a lynching memorial in Palm Beach County, Mayor Weiss and other area leaders traveled to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama.
Over 4,000 Black men, women and children were hanged, burned alive, shot, drowned and beaten to death by white mobs in the United States between 1877 and 1950. Until the National Memorial opened in 2018 in Montgomery, Alabama, there was no national memorial acknowledging the victims. The memorial consists of more than 800 steel monuments, one for each county in the United States where a racial terror lynching took place. The names of the lynching victims are engraved on the columns.
We have since learned that these racial attacks also happened in Palm Beach County where Henry Simmons and Samuel Nelson were brutally murdered. In order to come to terms with this ugly part of our local history and to get our own memorial markers in Palm Beach County, community leaders formed the Palm Beach Community Remembrance Coalition in 2019.
As part of the process to honor the victims in June 2022, soil was collected near the site where Samuel Nelson was lynched and a soil collection ceremony was held on “Juneteenth” in Delray Beach where the soil was placed into glass jars.
On Feb. 24, Mayor Weiss and other members of the coalition traveled to Montgomery, Alabama for the official delivery and transference of Sam Nelson’s soil, where it will be preserved for posterity's sake at the Legacy Museum. Before bringing home the historical markers, a similar process has to be followed to honor Henry Simmons, the other local victim.
To learn more about Samuel Nelson and the Palm Beach County Community Remembrance Project, visit pbcremembrance.org.
To learn more about the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, visit museumandmemorial.eji.org.
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200 pounds of trash removed! | |
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On Saturday, Feb. 18, our office partnered up with the Friends of Palm Beach, the City of Lake Worth Beach, Lake Worth Waterkeepers, Solid Waste Authority and Surfuce 71 to do a trash cleanup day at Bryant Park.
Thanks to the dozens of volunteers who came out and helped.
We removed nearly 200 pounds of trash!
Big shout out to The Friends of Palm Beach for facilitating this event.
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Tarpon Cove mangrove planting | |
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Over 70 people, including Mayor Weiss, came out on Feb. 16, for the Tarpon Cove Planting event. Together, we planted 4,000 saltmarsh grass, plugs and cordgrass seedlings purchased by the department and 600 one-gallon red mangrove trees donated by MANG.
The restoration effort provides important coastal resiliency to our shorelines, increases nursery areas and habitat for a wide variety of wildlife and improves water quality to Palm Beach County’s largest estuary, Lake Worth Lagoon.
Tarpon Cove is a 46-acre collection of islands built over a former dredge hole located on the west side of the Lake Worth Lagoon adjacent to the El Cid neighborhood in the City of West Palm Beach.
Over the years, muck sediment accumulated in the hole resulting in degraded water quality and depleted estuarine habitat. By filling in the hole and capping the muck with clean sand, islands have been created and contoured at elevations optimal for seagrass, tidal mud flat, mangrove, saltmarsh and oyster habitats that support fisheries, birds, oysters, manatees and sea turtles.
In addition, the restoration site has special non-vegetated areas designed to support nesting habitats for threatened coastal shorebirds in Florida. In 2022, the staff observed the successful nesting of American Oystercatchers, Least Terns and Black Skimmers at Tarpon Cove.
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WPTV NewsChannel 5
"Town hall discussion tackles rise of antisemitism in Palm Beach County." Read and watch here
"Here's how lawmakers believe Florida's 'Live Local Act' will make housing more affordable." Read and watch here
Palm Beach Post
'We need to be louder than hate': Officials, residents plot strategy to fight antisemitism." Read here
CBS12 News
"UF pauses talks about satellite campus in downtown West Palm Beach." Read and watch here
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Book drive for foster children | |
Make a pet lucky in March: No adoption fees! | |
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Palm Beach County Public Safety Department's Animal Care and Control Division (ACC) is waiving adoption fees during March and April to encourage the community to adopt and not shop for their furry friend.
ACC will be accepting monetary donations for those animals that have not found their forever home yet. Adopters are able to choose whether their donation goes towards ACC’s Enrichment, Feline Care, Volunteer or Rescue/Foster program.
ADOPT?
By adopting a pet from a local shelter, you free up space for another homeless animal to have the opportunity to find a forever home. Each adoption will ensure your best friend is spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and has a county license tag. To make sure adopters get started off on the right paw, they receive a free follow-up visit to a local veterinarian and a bag of Hill’s Science Diet pet food.
FOSTER?
For those reluctant to adopt, fostering is a great option. Fostering-to-adopt gives you the opportunity to spend time with your furry friend and provides the opportunity for the animal to enjoy time in an enriching environment.
View Adoptable Pets
https://secure.co.palm-beach.fl.us/snap/home
Adoption Center Hours:
Monday-Friday noon– 6 p.m.
Saturday noon– 5 p.m.
Sunday noon– 4 p.m.
PBC Animal Care & Control
7100 Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach
561-233-1200
www.pbcgov.com/animal
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Celebrations, anniversaries, meeting with agencies, advocating for health causes, recognizing community leaders, joining neighbors' festivities and going to neighborhood meetings, Mayor Weiss spends a lot of time in the community.
“As an elected official, I want to be part of the community I represent," said Mayor Weiss. "I want to understand the issues in my district and that’s why I spend many evenings going out to events to listen and learn.”
If you’d like to invite Mayor Weiss
to your event, let us know.
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MORIKAMI MUSEUM & JAPANESE GARDENS
On March 4, Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens celebrated its annual Bamboo and Bonsai Gala to benefit their Exhibitions, Educational, Emotional Wellness and Expansion programs.
At the event, Mayor Weiss met again with Kazuhiro Nakai Consul-General of Japan in Miami, which had received a proclamation at the Board of County Commissioners' meeting on Feb. 7 to honor and recognize the strong cultural bridge and working relationship between Japan and Palm Beach County's Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.
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ASIAN EXPO
On Saturday, March 4, the Bangladesh Association of Florida celebrated its 28th Asian Trade, Food Fair and Cultural Show. Mayor Weiss joined them for a good night of food, music and fellowship.
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READ ACROSS AMERICA
Read Across America is the nation's largest celebration of reading. The event focuses on increasing enthusiasm for reading and motivating children and teens to read.
On Thursday, March 2, Mayor Weiss had some fun by reading Dr. Seuss' book "Oh, The Places You'll Go" to Ms. Uriostegui's 4th grade class at Belvedere Elementary School.
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IRELAND'S AMBASSADOR
Ireland's Ambassador to the United States Geraldine Byrne Nason and Sara Kavanagh, Ireland's Consul General in Florida, came to Palm Beach County to introduce themselves and to start a relationship with local leaders.
Photographed with Mayor Weiss is Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason.
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
The county serves as the home base to four spring training teams, including the Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros.
On Thursday, Feb. 23, Palm Beach County Mayor Weiss, along with fellow commissioners, congratulated the World Series Champions, the Houston Astros, during a special recognition at the Robert Weisman Governmental Center.
The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches General Manager Mike Sophia and Houston Astros Vice President of Marketing Jason Wooden spoke at the recognition, which included a photo opportunity with the coveted 2022 World Series trophy.
Opening day of spring training kicked off Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches with the Houston Astros and the New York Mets.
For the full spring training schedule, click here.
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Ideas, suggestions, concerns?
Contact us!
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GREGG K. WEISS
Mayor
www.pbcgov.com/D2
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